Dear Friend,
As the 116th Congress comes to a close we are thrilled to report that, despite all odds and because of your great support, SAM was able to defeat every single pro-pot bill that was introduced.
When this session of Congress began back last year, we were told that the passage of bills like the SAFE Banking Act and the STATES Act were a done deal.
But we worked with our health and safety organization partners, including the American Medical Association – and we won. We educated both lawmakers and the public in a significant way.
Though the SAFE Banking Act passed the House, we were able to keep it from even receiving a hearing in the Senate Banking Committee as we worked with Committee Chairman Senator Mike Crapo to help him understand the serious ramifications of allowing the pot industry access to banks.
That put an end to what was being reported as a swift move to pass the bill.
Then, in a brazen attempt to pass over bills that would merely offer more legitimacy to the marijuana industry, House leadership moved to vote on the MORE Act, a bill that would legalize marijuana nationwide. Due to your support and SAM’s efforts, the vote was cancelled. The bill would eventually be passed by the House, but its passage came during the lame duck period following the election, where it passed and died on the same day.
Finally, despite desperate efforts of the pot lobby to include the SAFE Banking Act and taxpayer-funded bailouts for pot shops in each round of COVID-19 stimulus bills, we were able to defeat these efforts at every turn.
